While my garden is decent sized, I am still always looking for ways to save space. I talked about vertical gardening a bit last season, and last year I grew tomatoes, cucumbers, and some pole beans using vertical methods. After deciding that I wanted more beans this year, I decided to double my pole beans and grow less bush beans. I purchased Purple Podded Pole Beans and Asparagus Beans from Baker Seed Company and set up two teepees to accomadate them. Do you need some extra space in your garden? I would recommend trying some vertical gardening. Growing pole beans up a teepee may just give you that extra bit of space for more of another favorite veggie.
Here is what to do:
Step One:
Using 4-5 bamboo poles (6-8 feet tall), construct your teepee by first sticking your poles in your garden in a circle evenly spaced out. Tie a 3-4 foot piece of twine around the top part of one of your poles. Pull the poles til they meet in the middle, starting with the one across from the pole you have the twine tied around. Wind you twine around them to secure.
Continue to pull the other poles to meet in the middle and weave the twine in and out of the poles until they are secure. Tie a knot at the top to secure the whole thing. Optional: I had some twine left on the poles from last year so I wond them around the structure to give it a bit more support and something more for the beans to grab onto. I used a staple gun to secure the twine to the poles.
Step Two:
Now that the teepee is created, it is time to plant. Around the bottom of each pole, set out 3 pole bean seeds (you could do 4 but it gets a little too crowded and hard to harvest the beans later).
Poke each seed gently into the dirt about an inch deep.
Cover and water well. As your beans come up you can gently tie some twine around the pole and your plants to help them start climbing. Soon you will have a beautiful, functional tower of pole beans!
This post is linked to Simple Lives Thursday and The Greenbacks Gal.
12:49 pm on May 24th, 2012
This year I opted to do bush beans because I was not able to manage my pole beans last year. I am going to try doing this next year. Thanks for the pictures and tips.
8:08 am on May 25th, 2012
Jen, thanks for stopping by!
11:28 am on May 25th, 2012
Your bean tower looks great! I started a couple of them this year and they’re a fun addition to the garden. What varieties are you growing this year?
4:03 pm on May 25th, 2012
Thanks, Maria! I am growing Purple Podded Pole Beans and Asparagus Beans. These are both new varieties to me and I am excited to see how they taste!
7:15 pm on May 28th, 2012
What a great how to! Thanks for sharing these instructions for pole beans. I can’t wait to see how the purple beans turn out for you. We are big Baker Creek fans too! I am stopping by from Your Green Resource.
10:59 pm on May 30th, 2012
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